Active melanogenesis in non-S phase melanocytes in B16 melanomas in vivo investigated by double-tracer microautoradiography with 18F-fluorodopa and 3H-thymidine.

3,4-Dihydroxy-2-[18F]fluoro-L-phenylalanine (2-[18F]FDOPA) and [6-3H]thymidine ([3H]Thd) were simultaneously injected into mice transplanted with B16 melanomas of FM3A mammary carcinoma. Melanogenesis was differentiated from DNA synthesis in the mitotic cell cycle by monitoring grain distribution with double-tracer microautoradiography. The percentages of pigmented cells were inversely proportional to those of [3H]Thd-labelled cells, indicating that the greater the number of melanocytes, the smaller was the number of proliferating cells. The number of grains produced by 2-[18F]FDOPA in the [3H]Thd-unlabelled melanocytes was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than the numbers in the [3H]Thd-labelled melanocytes and in nonmelanocytes. The [3H]Thd-unlabelled non-melanocytes and FM3A cells showed the lowest accumulation of 2-[18F]DOPA, which may have resulted from the basic amino acid demand by malignant neoplasms via amino acid transport. The [3H]Thd-labelled cells, regardless of whether they were pigmented or not, had slightly more grains with 2-[18F]FDOPA than the [3H]Thd-unlabelled non-melanocytes (P < 0.05), which may have resulted from the enhanced amino acid requirement for proliferation. Melanogenesis appeared to be activated only in the non-S phase of the mitotic cycle in melanocytes.